THE HUSTLING DEPUTY?

What may have started as help with crowd control last year has ended up putting a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy in hot water, since an adult magazine published photographs of the deputy with some scantily-clad adult film actresses.

The Los Angeles Times says the deputy is being scrutinized for potential unprofessional conduct since the publication of a two-page display in Cheri, an adult magazine, with one page titled "Cop-a-Feel". The paper says the deputy was trying to corral some of the adult film actresses who'd spilled out of a party at Hustler Hollywood.

And Deputy Charles Kristoff wasn't exactly being shown as a slice of beefcake, the Times says - he's described as a portly 42-year-old law enforcement officer, assigned to the sheriff's West Hollywood station, and shown in the photographs alternately laughing and looking distracted while different women in bra tops and short shorts sidled up to him, the paper says.

The most risqué photograph in the series, the Times says, shows Kristoff standing behind a woman as she holds his hands to her barely-covered chest, while another photo shows a woman with her legs over his shoulders while sitting on a patrol car.

Kristoff hasn't been suspended as the probe continues, the paper says. The paper adds that he told KCAL-TV on Sunday night that the pictures were causing him problems. Department standards require deputies in uniform to act like professionals and do nothing to embarrass the department, the Times says.

Department officials tell the paper they saw the Cheri photos last week for the first time. The case has moved to the Internal Affairs division, and the department says if other deputies were part of the incident they may be investigated as well.

The incident occurred at a Hustler Hollywood party last summer. Store manager Dustin Flynt tells the Times several deputies came to the party to help with traffic control, but Kristoff is the only one of the officers to appear in the Cheri spread. The party had spilled over onto an already-crowded portion of the Sunset Strip.

Digital Playground had hired actresses to appear at Hustler Hollywood, the Times says. Digital Playground vice president Samantha Lewis tells the paper she had no control over either text or pictures in the Cheri feature. In fact, Lewis also tells the paper "thank God" Kristoff was on the scene.

"He kept control of the crowd," she tells the Times. "He absolutely did not do anything wrong; he actually tamed everyone down." She says the photos came as a result of the "playfulness" of the actresses. "Whenever the girls see an officer, they always go the extra mile to get their picture taken," she says. "These girls are entertainers. They try to make you loosen up even if you don't want to."

Lewis also says Kristoff actually tried to tell one of the actresses sitting on his patrol car she couldn't do that. She says the woman who sat on the car with her legs wrapped around Kristoff was actually trying to get down off the car, according to the Times.